“Republicans Against 8” sounds more like a post apocalyptic gang in a Kevin Costner movie than a concerted fight to keep the California constitution from being amended in order to ban gay marriage. As of Sunday – the polls were showing a dead heat in California. This is a big battle for a few reasons. The people in California voted in 2000 on Proposition 22, disapproving of state recognized gay marriage. A weighty 61 percent said no to gay marriage until the California Supreme Court struck down the initiative in 2008. Now the anti-gay marriage crowd is voting to burn a big old NO into the state constitution with Proposition 8.

This issue is messy …in California. Forget for a second how you might feel about gay marriage. Should the courts be overturning the will of the people, even if you disagree with the result of the vote? Perhaps the court overstepped, and there is room to say that it was legislating. The statute should be voted on again. But amending the constitution is dangerous stuff because it opens the door for all kinds of crazy things to be written into the constitution. Remember that Tom Hayden still lives there –yikes.

On the issue itself, gay couples deserve every right that straight couples enjoy – including marriage. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposes Proposition 8, as do a large number of gay and gay-friendly Republicans. Proposition 8 is an ugly step for California.

The issue of law and a changing constitution is a very good paper topic if you are a student. Many of you might have final papers coming up – this is not a bad place to explore.